1957

This is not a very good timeline post, but I'm exploring some new aspects of the topic today and found this ebook I wanted to share. It's called "New Discoveries at Jamestown" and it was written in 1957 by John L. Cotter and J. Paul Hudson. I also don't have any posts for 1957 yet, so I added this one. There is a photo of a gin bottle from Holland that was unearthed (photo here: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16277/16277-h/images/054.jpg) that, after a long period of aging, seems like something made today, post-zen ceramics, with Art in Mind. It's amazing that it didn't break.

I also like the seals that were put on bottles and such. They gave authenticity then, and still do. Something is very attractive about a crest. I like it better than a signature.

1957 John L. Cotter and J. Paul Hudson:

"About 1650 the practice of affixing glass seals or buttons on the shoulders of English wine bottles was begun. The seal was inscribed with a name, or initials, or a date; sometimes a coat of arms or a crest, or other device or ornament. Many of these glass bottle seals have been found at Jamestown. As a rule, only the wealthy and influential planters had seals stamped on their wine bottles. Gin bottles found at Jamestown are tall and square with thin glass sides. Imported from Holland, many were made as early as 1625. One gin bottle was miraculously unearthed intact, and not as much as a chip or crack was found on this 300-year-old fragile specimen."

[...]

"Glassblowers were working at Jamestown in 1608-09, and again in 1621-24. The trial glass they made in 1608 was sent to England—the first glass manufactured by Englishmen in the New World. The small glass fragments excavated at the furnace sites do not reveal what was produced, but probably nothing more complicated than window glass, bottles and vials, and plain drinking glasses. It is believed that the small glass factory at Jamestown was the first English “factory” in America."

Cotter, J., Hudson, J.P. "New Discoveries at Jamestown." 1957, Washington D.C. Ebook #16277 on Project Gutenberg. Accessed November 5, 2009. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16277/16277-h/16277-h.htm